The Arts in New York City

Stranger than your already eclectic artist, more abstract than even Picasso, able to urinate on a canvas and call it art…he’s a fruitcake… he’s a weirdo….he’s, he’s…well of course he’s not anything thing like that, he’s Andy Warhol.  A man for whom the word “pop” must have stood for “paint odd pictures,” because honestly, for some of his work you needed both a historian to explain the time period’s relativity to the piece, and a psychiatrist to measure my response to let me know if I’m “understanding it” correctly. The man was probably a genius, and he made his art speak volumes about everything, the problems in society, the society itself, and even about the more exclusive society of the rich and famous (of which he was an active member).

So, Andy Warhol- social critic? Big time celebrity? Or hypocrite?  The answer is all of the above (except for the “hypocrite.”  The artist’s roles in society often overlap, because in order for him to criticize and point out the flaw in society, he needed to be a part of it.  As a big time celebrity he experienced the pros and cons of that life and its seen over and over in his work.  How else can one say they are accurately criticizing?  One needs to be in the thick of it all, much like Andy Warhol was, because his opinions were able to reach a greater number of people thanks to his celebrity status.

Andy Warhol’s work can be seen as uniquely strange (I mean come on, oxidation paintings??? I never even realized urine was a medium) but his art captures images of common objects that are familiar and relatable to the public.  One example would be his Marilyn Monroe pieces; she was such a recognizable celebrity that her image, along with pieces depicting the Mona Lisa and Jesus Christ, and that of the Last Supper are works that the public understood (somewhat) and could appreciate.  They were iconic and meaningful, however somewhat daunting as well.  One of his works consisted of a silk-screening of Jesus Christ over a hundred times, (I found it a little intimidating) and the message I found within it was that he was reminding the people the God was always watching.

Andy Warhol. A name everyone knows. A person nobody can fully understand.

The role of any artist as a social critic goes hand in hand with their role as an active member in society. As a member in society, one is able to see the corruption from the inside, and experience it as anyone else would. Anyone who experiences a community from the inside and can understand why this community does what it does, can become a social critic. Social critics ask themselves why. Why do these people do what they do? Why do they say what they say? Why do they wear what they wear? Truth is, there’s no right answer. But Andy Warhol is able to uncover a few good ones.

Through his artwork, Warhol shows the way everyone in society conforms to one idea. The Detail of The Last Supper shows Christ repeated 112 times. This artwork shows Warhol’s view of Christ as a repetitive, ongoing subject in society. As said in the piece’s description, the inspiration for this piece most likely came from Warhol’s experiences in church as a child. Right there, his immersion in religious society is shown, and he can therefore pass judgment on the constant repetition and glorification of Christ.

Other pieces of his artwork also show the conformity of people to society. In one of his pieces, he muddles together motorcycles with Christ(nicknamed “The Big C”) and colors of red, white, and blue. He then puts a price on it. 6.99. That’s all it’s worth to people. 6.99. Is it even realistic to put a price on such things as Christ? Apparently, to Warhol, it is. The way he sees it, there’s no reason for anyone to glorify and worship Christ, or motorcycles just because that’s what’s “in” right now. Because that’s what it comes down to. People began to buy motorcycles and began to worship Christ because that’s what everyone else was doing. Warhol knows this because he went to Church and he was a part of the motorcycle group, Hell’s Angels, who are known to represent freedom. Once again, he is criticizing these things, this time by pricing them cheaply, and he was able to do so because he was a part of them.

Much of Warhol’s art captured moments of other celebrities. Television celebrities were a main focus of his, because he felt that he was “watching tv instead of living life….I knew that I was watching television. The channels switch, but it’s all television.” He had a very negative outlook on television, even though he personally knew celebrities like Jodie Foster, Marilyn Monroe, and Elizabeth Taylor. He glorified their achievements, such as Jodie Foster’s going to college in his piece, The Kid Goes to College: Jodie Foster. He mocked celebrity lifestyle as he became one of them. He knew that there was no reason as to why they were glorified. They were just people. He proved this by becoming a celebrity himself, illuminating the fact that anyone could.

There were also many of Warhol’s self portraits. He turned the focus onto himself, turning himself into a celebrity. He noticed how much attention was received from television celebrities and how much influence these people had over others, and he wanted this for himself. He wanted to see what the big deal was. Why did everyone glorify these celebrities? Why did everyone want to be a celebrity? WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL?! Truth is, he found out, there is none. It’s all ridiculous and implanted into people’s heads that somehow, celebrities are better than the rest of us.

Most of his self portraits show him camouflaged or moving his head in a manner that suggests he would like to escape. This is highly symbolic of his immersion in society and his desire to get out. Also, the desire to hide and escape are representative of his difficulty in outwardly expressing the fact that he was religious. Another fact that I found interestingly hidden was that he was a homosexual. I think he also tried to camouflage this because of it’s general societal rejection. Oftentimes when people found that he was gay, they were wary of accepting his artwork, so in order to feel socially accepted, Warhol tried to inconspicuously tell the world he was gay without announcing it. Personally, I think that Warhol’s role as an active member in society as well as a social critic branch off of his homosexuality. Since homosexuality was generally not accepted at this time, he was critical of society from the beginning. He wormed his way into becoming a celebrity in order to see why these people were unable to accept him. I believe that because he was able to be a celebrity, and see what was going on “behind the scenes” he was also able to realize that it was the same thing as everywhere else, and he was able to say that it was all crap. The whole idea of being a celebrity and of people worshiping celebrities. It’s all crap. There’s no reason for celebrities to be placed on a pedestal and to be worshiped by the more common and less wealthy people in society. IT’S ALL CRAP!